Mark Viggiani has composed for Squawkestra “Of Tulips and Dragons”, an arrangement of five pieces taken from Béla Bartók’s piano music, which we are proud to be premiering at the VCO Project Gala Concert.

He has been active as a composer since the early 1990s. Amongst numerous awards and prizes most recently Viggiani won the 2014 Melbourne Conservatory of Music / Melbourne Recital Centre award, for which the work Cleopatra was commissioned for Ensemble Liaison and Greta Bradman; and the 2012 Zavod Classical/Jazz Fusion Composition Award for John the Revelator. This work was composed for and premiered by the Mons Kinky Pinky Orchestra at the 2011 Ars Musica Festival in Mons, Belgium.

Most recently Viggiani completed his first music theatre work Seven Deadly Sins, in conjunction with Opera Victoria. Other recent commissions include a new work for the Song Company’s 2015 Michael Leunig program, One Last Tango, performed by Orchestra Victoria under Richard Mills, Lomax Sketches for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra,  Aus Der Munitionsfabriken, which was premiered by Speak Percussion at the 2007 Big West Festival and a trio for the ensemble Syzygy.

Recognised as a more than capable classical guitarist himself, Viggiani has created a large body of music including solos, didactic works and mixed ensemble pieces. He released a CD of origional compositions The Rainmaker on Move Records to international critical acclaim, and has appeared at festivals including the Darwin International Guitar Festival, Brunswick Music Festival, and the Sydney Guitar Festival.

In 2013 Viggiani completed a Ph.D in Music Composition with at the University of Melbourne, during which time he received the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA, 2009-12). During his candidature he also undertook studies in Torino with Giulio Castagnoli and attended masterclasses at the Venice Biennale. More recently, he completed a residency at the Atlantic Centre for the Arts in Florida with composer Martin Bresnick.

In addition to his activities as a composer and performer, Viggiani has many years experience teaching guitar and music theory related subjects, at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. In 2017 he started the online publishing venture Trove Music, in order to disseminate his compositions and transcriptions for guitar.